Search

Krisai et al. compare brain structure and cognitive function in elderly patients with and without atrial fibrillation using brain MRI and cognitive testing. They find that atrial fibrillation is associated with more brain lesions and lower cognitive function, but the cognitive impairment occurs primarily through direct effects of the arrhythmia rather than through brain damage.

Environmental justice and drinking water in the US: Higher proportions of Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and non-Hispanic Black residents were associated with higher public water arsenic and uranium at the county-level, findings differed by region.

The inability of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells to shift the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus during daytime is caused by light-dependent depolarization block of these cells.

Digital surveillance at the national scale, coupled with a spatial model that extends the data to a more granular scale, reveals gaps in MMR vaccination coverage that align with recent measles outbreaks.

Transcription factor osr2 is identified as a specific marker and regulator of mural lymphatic endothelial cell (muLEC) differentiation and maintenance, and muLECs and border-associated macrophages share functional analogies but are not homologous, providing an example of convergent evolution.

After decades of research, experiment shows potential for using lasers to protect large infrastructure.

In a phase 2 trial evaluating healthy donor fecal microbial transplantation plus either anti-PD-1 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer or anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 in patients with melanoma, encouraging efficacy was seen in both cohorts, with responses linked to significantly greater loss of baseline bacterial species.

The study presents a recyclable polymer system that stores solar energy and releases it as hydrogen on demand, offering an efficient and sustainable route for renewable energy storage and fuel generation.

Producing isolated single-photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride with predefined spin transitions is challenging. Oxygen annealing enables the controlled fabrication of narrowband quantum emitters with optically active spin for quantum applications.

A conversation about the US election and the possible fallout for science, and are maternal behaviours learned or innate?

We highlight some of the Nature Briefing’s stories from the end of 2023, including a polar bear fur-inspired sweater, efforts to open OSIRIS-REx’s sample canister, and a dinosaur’s last dinner.

Embedded ‘nanocages’ help water dissolve large amounts of gas, and potential evidence that hominins walked on two legs seven million years ago.

Researchers determined the telecommunications satellite was periodically brighter than 99% of stars, and powerful X-rays have uncovered an ancient trilobite’s last meal.

The cytoplasm can be partitioned into distinct compartments by microtubule structures, which can be stabilized by distinct mechanisms in different species.

Chen et al. examined how genetic risk interacts with neighborhood environmental exposures to influence psychotic-like experiences in children from the ABCD cohort study.

Kinematic measurements of the Perseus galaxy cluster reveal two drivers of gas motions: a small-scale driver in the inner core associated with black-hole feedback and a large-scale driver in the outer core powered by mergers.

Newly discovered documents reveal more about Rosalind Franklin’s role in solving DNA’s structure, and how multisensory experiences can create stronger memories in fruit flies.

Large-scale computational and in vitro analyses identify commensal type III secretion systems and substrates in the human gut microbiome that can interact with human proteins to modulate immune pathways.

A van der Waals heterostructure made from atomic layers of ferroelectric CuCrP₂S₆ and ferromagnetic Fe₃GeTe₂ can offer reversible, non-volatile ferroelectric control of two-dimensional magnetism.

Elephantnose fish share electric pulses to extend their senses, and the bumblebees that show a uniquely human trait.

The authors present a deep learning approach to uncover complex genetic effects on circulating protein levels. They reveal new interactions and dominance patterns using UK Biobank proteomics data.

In this study, Dahmane et al use a method called cryo-electron tomography to uncover new details of how tick-borne flaviviruses transform cells into virus factories.

With rich, multi-layered baseline data and long-term follow-up through linkage, the HELIOS Study provides a resource to investigate the behavioural, environmental, genomic, and molecular factors impacting health in Asian populations.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Researchers extract useful metal from industrial waste, and how analysis of blood proteins could help unravel the mystery of long COVID.

The ~500-metre-thick Prudhoe Dome in northwestern Greenland completely deglaciated 7,000 years ago, highlighting the sensitivity of the ice sheet to mid-Holocene warming, according to luminescence and geochemical data from sub-ice sediments and ice cores.

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation threatens human health, and its impacts are likely to intensify under climate change. This research examines how historical El Niño–Southern Oscillation events have caused life expectancy and economic losses across the Pacific Rim and projects future impacts and vulnerable groups.

How current and future ice loss in Greenland compares to the past, and using graphene to make ultra-sensitive radiation detectors.

Results of the phase 1/2 TACTOPS trial show that autologous T cell therapy targeting PRAME, SSX2, MAGEA4, Survivin and NY-ESO-1 in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is feasible and safe, and leads to encouraging clinical responses and evidence of antigen spreading in responders.

Over 30 years, the scholarship programme Hrabowski founded has supported more than 1,500 Black students. He spoke to Nature for our new Changemakers series.

Two studies demonstrate how brain-computer interfaces could help people to communicate, and working out how hot it can get before tropical leaves start to die.

The experimental physicist joins us to talk about her book Not just for the boys, why we need more women in science.

A scanning single-electron transistor is used to probe the strain dependence of moiré and supermoiré domains. It is observed that these can be considered nearly independent of each other.

Access to green space has been a critical, and contentious, issue for neighbourhood inequality and health outcomes. This Analysis looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic interacts with availability of nature for urban residents.

Here the authors show that endogenous or therapeutically delivered GDF-15 activates brainstem neurons that trigger splenic β-adrenergic signaling. This, in turn, suppresses autoreactive T cells and reduces neuroinflammation, identifying a possible target for multiple sclerosis treatment.

Brown dwarfs are substellar objects subject to variability and colour changes. A 3D general circulation model shows that clouds explain this observed behaviour and highlights their role as a driver of atmospheric dynamics and climate.

Early high-resolution images of two 2021 novae reveal eruptions unfolding in multiple stages with colliding outflows that produce shocks and gamma rays, reshaping our understanding of stellar explosions.

This study uses single-cell DNA sequencing to analyze genomic evolution in pancreatic cancer using a cohort of multiregionally and longitudinally sampled patients’ tissues across various clinical contexts.

Accelerometers measures multiple dimensions of circadian rhythm but studies tend to examine these dimensions separately. Here, the authors show this might be an oversimplification, as demonstrated by the nine identified clusters related to rest-activity rhythm, daytime activity, sleep, and chronotype.

Mitochondria divide to share the load when nutrients are scarce — plus, how smashing atomic nuclei together helps identify their shapes.

Tubulin mutations cause a group of disorders named tubulinopathies. Here, the authors show that specific variants in the tubulin TUBB impair primary cilia formation, putting forward primary cilia defects as a pathogenic factor in some tubulinopathy cases.

The cross-discipline effort to work out how ancient humans learned to count.

MultiSuSiE is an extension of the Sum of Single Effects fine-mapping model that allows causal effect sizes to vary across ancestries. Applying MultiSuSiE to quantitative traits in All of Us identifies fine-mapped variants not implicated by other methods.

In place of ‘season’ as the typical sun exposure proxy, this study uses ambient UVB linked to participants’ addresses. The results deepen our understanding of the link between vitamin D and health and highlight the utility of environmental data.

System aids researchers measuring biodiversity levels in Ecuador, and how people can follow basic instructions while fast asleep.

Enzymes embedded directly into the material allows PLA plastic to completely break down — plus a gel that can safely store proteins for shipping.

A roundup of stories from the Nature Briefing, including how human ancestors came close to extinction, historic pollution in Antarctica, and the AI that predicts smell from a compound's structure.

How a ring around a distant solar system object is puzzling researchers, and understanding the hidden dangers of indoor air pollution.